Scorpion wins drilling contract for Arabian Gulf
Scorpion Offshore said it had landed a four-year drilling contract worth $ 282 mm in the Arabian Gulf for its jack-up
Offshore Freedom in the Arabian Gulf. The rig is currently being built at the Lamprell shipyard in Sharjah in the
United Arab Emirates.
Scorpion said the deal had been closed by Saudi Arabian-based Odfjell Drilling Services, a joint venture partner of
its wholly owned subsidiary Scorpion International.
The deal, expected to kick off late in the first quarter of 2009, will boost Scorpion Offshore's revenue backlog
through 2018 to $ 1.8 bn. The rig is scheduled for delivery at the end of the first quarter of next year.
Scorpion Offshore has a fleet of three jack-up rigs currently in operation and a further five units being built,
including two jack-ups with Lamprell and a deep-water semi-submersible rig at Keppel Fels in Singapore.
The company's Offshore Courageous rig began its second contract off Oman for Rak Petroleum in April, while the
Offshore Defender started workfor Petrobras off Brazil in March. The Offshore Resolute started work with the Thang
Long Joint Operating Company off Vietnam earlier this month.
The company reported full-year net income of $ 15.6 mm, up from a net loss of $ 8.4 mm in the year-ago quarter.
Scorpion said comparisons between the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years were not meaningful as it had no rigs in operation
in the earlier period.
For the fourth quarter of the 2008 year, Scorpion saw net profit of $ 10.3 mm as contract drilling revenue rose $
28.5 mm sequentially to $ 32.6 mm. Operating expenses rose to $ 14.4 mm from $ 10 mm in the third quarter.
